The hit film Everything Everywhere All at Once would have been an entirely different movie is Jackie Chan had been cast as the protagonist rather than Michelle Yeoh, but that’s almost what happened. When the film was first written by the Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the idea was for Chan to play the lead role with Yeoh in a supporting role as his character’s wife. After Chan turned down the film, however, the Daniels had the idea to shift Yeoh into the protagonist spot with Ke Huy Quan as her husband.
In a new interview with CNN, Yeoh reflected on how Chan was originally cast for her part. She presumes that the screenplay was written this way as, typically, it would be a male actor as the protagonist in an action-filled film like this. As Yeoh explains:
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After the film was released to great acclaim, Yeoh says Chan, a longtime friend, jokingly razzed her with a text. He sent her a message of congratulations along with a reminder that he was the one who was first considered to star in the movie. For her part, Yeoh could only give her thanks, as this gave her an incredible opportunity.
The Daniels Realized There Was Greater Potential in Making Michelle Yeoh the Protagonist
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Yeoh also commented on why things didn’t work out with Chan, suggesting it was mostly due to scheduling issues. The good news, as we know now, is that the Daniels were quick to realize they had an easy solution, once they figured out that Yeoh was more than capable of carrying the film in this way herself. As Yeoh suggests, that may come from how the Daniels are inspired by the strong women they know in real life.
We’ll find out if Yeoh wins the Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once when the awards ceremony happens on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
